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One of the key things businesses can do to gain brand advocates is to make advocacy convenient, says Rob Fuggetta, CEO of brand advocacy firm Zuberance. Companies should offer various online tools that make it easy for advocates to engage by writing testimonials and reviews or sharing offers with social networks.

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Most customers still rely on word-of-mouth advertising to make buying decisions, experts say, and social media can allow a business to trumpet those good reports to a wider audience. "[I]t's more important than ever to find those customers who are your advocates and give them a megaphone to share their positive experiences in places like Facebook and Yelp and Twitter," says Rob Fuggetta, founder of online brand-advocate platform Zuberance.

To magnify your word-of-mouth marketing, find your strongest advocates and encourage them to rate and review your business online, writes Rob Fuggetta, founder and CEO of Zuberance. Give advocates special deals to share with their networks of acquaintances, and offer social sharing widgets that allow advocates to talk up your company on social media.

Identifying satisfied customers is the first step in creating brand advocates who can produce high-quality content for social media marketing, writes Rob Fuggetta. Brands also need to take measures to make it as easy as possible for brand advocates to contribute reviews and photos that can be shared across social media platforms. Companies can then display these testimonials on their own media channels and track brand advocates to find out what kind of content is being shared, where and how often.

At least 70% of people who recommend products via social channels do so at least five times a year, and 38% do so at least once a month, according to a survey from Zuberance. A smaller subset of hardcore brand advocates said they made recommendations several times a week, with 16% saying they recommended at least 15 products or services per year.

At least 68% of Internet users are recommending brands to their networks. A study by Zuberance found that two-thirds of those are making fewer than 10 recommendations each year, with 16% advocating for 15 or more brands in a year. Technology leads the brands being recommended with 25%, followed by restaurants and entertainment. Facebook is where 35% of brand advocates speak up, but 57% are still using e-mail to make recommendations.